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B Information b is widely available and accessible, but frequently leads to information overload and overexposure, while the effort for coding, storing, hiding, securing, transmitting and retrieving it may be excessive. Special Collection of Extended Selected Papers on "Novel Research Results Presented in The 12th International Conference on Information, Intelligence, Systems and Applications (IISA2021), 12-14 July 2021, Chania, Crete, Greecehttps://easyconferences.eu/iisa2021/" The authors employ machine learning-based methodologies to formulate a general evaluation chart of nutritional biomarkers. [Extracted from the article]

The current paper focuses upon the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on locals’ opinions regarding the hospitality sector in Crete. The main research aim driving the current study is to evaluate respondents’ (locals’) willingness to pay a premium for CSR activities in the hospitality sector. The paper utilizes primary data collected through a survey questionnaire in the region of Crete. In total, researchers collected 400 survey questionnaires over a course of three months during the pandemic period. The paper utilized a logistic regression framework. According to the results, respondents that were highly familiar with CSR were also very positive in supporting CSR actions. Whereas gender does not seem to exert a particularly strong influence on individual willingness to pay a CSR premium, yet once the analysis distinguishes between different premium levels, females were found more likely to contribute at lower amounts, as compared to their male counterparts. The results indicate that businesses should adopt and adapt their CSR practices to new business discourses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to investigate the development of a floating artificial sustainable energy island at a conceptual design level that would enhance the energy independence of islands focusing on a case study on the island of Crete. This paper provides a baseline assessment showing the immense potential of wind and solar energy in and around Crete integrating the third significant renewable energy source (RES) of ocean waves into the energy island. The selection of the best location for the floating offshore platforms that compose the energy island is addressed through exploiting the great potential of the above-mentioned RES, taking into consideration criteria with regard to several significant human activities. To this end, the concept of an innovative floating modular energy island (FMEI) that integrates different renewable energy resources is proposed; in addition, a case study that focuses on the energy independency of a big island illustrates the concept referring to the substitution of the local thermal power plants that are currently in operation in Crete with sustainable energy power. Although focused on the renewable energy resources around Crete, the work of this paper provides a basis for a systematic offshore renewable energy assessment as it proposes a new methodology that could be used anywhere around the globe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the Bronze Age, the inhabitants of regions of Crete, mainland Greece, and Cyprus inscribed their languages using, among other scripts, a writing system called Linear A. These symbols, mainly characterized by combinations of lines, have, since their discovery, remained a mystery. Not only is the corpus very small, but it is challenging to link Minoan, the language behind Linear A, to any known language. Most decipherment attempts involve using the phonetic values of Linear B, a grammatological offspring of Linear A, to 'read' Linear A. However, this yields meaningless words. Recently, novel approaches to deciphering the script have emerged which involve a computational component. In this paper, two such approaches are combined to account for the biases involved in provisionally assigning Linear B phonetic values to Linear A and to shed more light on the possible connections of Linear A with other scripts and languages from the region. Additionally, the limitations inherent in such approaches are discussed. Firstly, a feature-based similarity measure is used to compare Linear A with the Carian Alphabet and the Cypriot Syllabary. A few Linear A symbols are matched with symbols from the Carian Alphabet and the Cypriot Syllabary. Finally, using the derived phonetic values, Linear A is compared with Ancient Egyptian, Luwian, Hittite, Proto-Celtic, and Uralic using a consonantal approach. Some possible word matches are identified from each language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines potential associations of loneliness with laboratory data and specific psychosocial and behavioral attitudes. The sample collection took place in an urban Primary Health Care unit between May and July 2023, consecutively, and once exclusion criteria were implemented. Participants were aged between 40 and 75 years. Routine laboratory test results upon study initiation and six months before were used. The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Loneliness Scale (Version 3), blood glucose, serum lipids, Fibrosis-4 index, and Creatinine Clearance (CrCl) were assessed through hierarchical multiple logistic regression analysis. Based on full model (3rd) analysis, those who were engaged in an individual sport or activity or had contacts with more friends presented significantly lower odds for increased loneliness levels (odds ratio (OR): 0.28 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.09–0.91], p = 0.034 and OR: 0.76 [95%CI 0.66–0.88], p < 0.001, respectively). The consumption of alcohol was associated with increased loneliness (OR: 5.55 [95%CI 1.42–21.63], p = 0.014). Elevated triglyceride levels were linked with moderate or no loneliness (OR: 0.20 [95%CI 0.05–0.83], p = 0.026), while an increased LDL/HDL atherosclerotic index was related to increased subjective loneliness (OR: 4.50 [95%CI 1.12–18.13], p = 0.035). The need for holistic approaches—involving primary care personnel—in understanding and addressing loneliness, recognizing its multifaceted nature as well as the diverse factors that contribute to this issue, is considered challenging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents updates on upcoming international congresses in the systems research and behavioral science sector happening in 2003. 47th Annual Conference of the International Society for the Systems Sciences in Crete, Greece; Informing Science+IT Education Conference in Pori, Finland.

The Cretan (or Messara, Giorgalidiko) horse or pony was first mentioned as a distinct specific horse breed by the Ottomans in 1895. This horse, however, may have a much longer history, perhaps going back to the prehistoric era. It also has an unsure future. Based on a review of available archaeofaunal, iconographical, and historiographical information, the authors identify the characteristics of the Cretan horse, discuss the possible origin of this breed, describe its current breeding status, and present a proposal for its preservation. Domesticated horses (Equus caballus) appeared on the island by the end of the third millennium B.C.E. and became part of the cultural context after the mid-second millennium B.C.E. It is difficult to trace the horse in Crete during Classical antiquity, early Christianity, and the early Middle Ages. It is possible that various breeds of E. caballus were present on the island during the Late Middle Ages. The Cretan horse is understood as part of local tradition, a historical patrimony, and an integral part of Crete's cultural heritage. The geographical, climatic, historical, and cultural characteristics of the island were imprinted in its characteristics. The Cretan horse is poorly documented up to this day. It now faces extinction. The authors gathered information and evidence of horses on Crete from the Neolithic period up to the present day. They produced two papers, representing a comprehensive overview of the Equus Cabalus history of the island. The first paper covers the period from prehistoric times up to 1895, when the Cretan horse was declared a special breed by the Ottoman administration and protected legally. The research summarizes archaeological, osteological, iconographical, and historical evidence. The second paper describes the state of the breed during the twentieth century, the current position, its further needs and future prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces an innovative and eco-friendly computational methodology to assess the wind potential of a location with the aid of high-resolution simulations with a mesoscale numerical weather prediction model (WRF), coupled with the statistical "10% sampling condition". The proposed methodology is tested for a location with complex terrain on the Greek island of Crete, where moderate to strong winds prevail for most of the year. The results are promising, indicating that this method has great potential for studying and assessing areas of interest. Adverse effects and challenges associated with wind energy production may be mitigated with methods such as the proposed one. Mitigating such effects should constitute the main focus and priority in research concerning wind energy production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we argue that the sociopolitical trajectory of Bronze Age of Crete was characterized by the progressive but intentional manipulation of an enduring collective ethos, notably in the organization of gatherings and feasts. These key practices, meant to ensure cohesion, took place within a larger social organization of which the constituents were formed by corporate groups that we interpret as "houses." We also argue that the nature of these houses changed over time. This process is particularly evident in the varying contexts in which these gatherings took place, with differences in terms of scale and origin of participants and variations in the balance between base-driven and imposed practices. We highlight that a landscape initially dotted with small local communities, connected through kinship bonds and shared practices at the microregional level, was progressively transformed into a homogenous, all-embracing ideological structure, which pervaded society and constituted the backbone of its hierarchical organization. Legitimized and mobilized within a religious system with clear political overtones, this process resulted into a supra-regional, global network that can rightfully be called "Minoan." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sanctuaries devoted to Asclepius were established and operated for almost a thousand years in various Greek and Roman cities throughout the Mediterranean region. The Asclepieion sanctuary in Lentas (formerly known as Ancient Lebena) in Crete was famous for receiving water from a sacred spring. In Ancient Lebena, Levinaion was a famous centre for hydrotherapy, physiotherapy, and a psychiatric hospital. In the present paper, we aim to assess the hydrochemical status of this sacred spring that holds a prominent position in archaeological and historical studies. The main objectives of this study are: Initially, to present supervisory evidence (archaeological, geological, hydrochemical) of an area that was a water resource management model for many centuries, carrying out therapeutic work. The second objective is to present and compare hydrochemical data in the last century, i.e., from 1915 to 2021. The third objective is to highlight and warn of an incipient saltwater intrusion in the area along the Lentas coast. The fourth objective is to propose an alternative and sustainable form of water resources management in the region that requires the study and rational utilization of the sporadic small water springs in the region. Our study focuses on a basic hydrochemical analysis of spring and borehole water in the remains of Levinaion in the Lentas region, and their comparison with sparse historical data of the sacred spring water, aiming to interpret the impact of the changes in the spring water resources that occurred in recent decades due to urban modernization. Our results highlight (i) visible fluctuations in chemical composition of borehole water samples; (ii) a neutral to alkaline pH in borehole waters and an alkaline pH in spring waters; (iii) undetectable arsenic in Lentas borehole water, unlike historical data of Lentas spring water; (iv) low values of dissolved radon in Lentas borehole water and the spring water of Kefalovrysa; and (v) a timeless constant and hypothermic nature of the water of both the sacred spring and borehole of Lentas, and also of the Kefalovrysa spring. The recorded historical data, i.e., from 1915 to 1957, due to the absence of substantial anthropogenic activity in the area, can be used as reference values (natural background levels, NBLs) for the Lentas area. Our findings emerge with the need to bring again the flowing spring water of the sacred spring of Lentas in its original form through sustainable management and re-discover its beneficial therapeutical effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In crisis conditions, solidarity structures emerge as a social and political response to the crisis. This study introduces a new conceptualisation of solidarity structures as grassroots contestations to the neoliberal 'there-is-no-alternative' (TINA) discourse. It argues that their operation reflects counterhegemonic practices that can keep alive the hope that another world, based on principles of solidarity, is possible. Moreover, this paper, utilising Gramsci's work, argues that welfare grassroots community solidarity structures (WGCSS) challenge hegemonic assumptions surrounding the TINA discourse, such as responsibilisation and individual failings, by reflecting arguments for collective provisioning, empowerment and community action, and systemic failings. The arguments made in this paper draw on rapid ethnographic activist research in Chania, Crete, Greece. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Featured Application: The present paper evaluates 10 alternative shoreline pond electrode station designs using frames in a linear arrangement of electrodes for HVDC interconnections, against the typical design, according to CIGRE B4.61/2017 (parallel arrangement of electrode frames, with respect to the longitudinal axis of the breakwater), studying it from the point of view of electric field analysis (with emphasis on the near-field). During the design of a shoreline electrode station for High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) interconnections, the location of the electrodes plays a critical part, especially in the development of the near-electric field. The basic structure is their linear placement, in the form of successive frames, parallel to the longitudinal axis of the breakwater, as proposed by CIGRE and implemented in existing projects. However, this arrangement requires a considerable breakwater length, which may not be permissible, as in the case of Stachtoroi, one of the two electrode stations being built for the 1 GW, ±500 kV HVDC interconnection between Crete and mainland Greece. This troubled the preliminary study team of the electrode stations, which investigated other possible configurations. In this paper, configurations of linear placements of electrode frames are studied and compared at the preliminary study level in terms of electric field effects (especially the near-field), using an analytical simplified model and the superposition method, to determine the most appropriate arrangement of electrodes that will cover the respective requirements of CIGRE directives B4.61/2017. These arrangements are practically evaluated for two different electrode station locations at Korakia in Crete and at Stachtoroi in Aegina for the Crete–mainland-Greece interconnection, resulting in interesting alternative solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article invites research papers for the Fifth International Symposium on Process Organization Studies to be held from June 20 to 22, 2013 in Crete, Greece.

Copyright of Archives of Hellenic Medicine / Arheia Ellenikes Iatrikes is the property of Athens Medical Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Insular networks constitute ideal fields for investment in renewables and storage due to their excellent wind and solar potential, as well the high generation cost of thermal generators in such networks. Nevertheless, in order to ensure the stability of insular networks, network operators impose strict restrictions on the expansion of renewables. Storage systems render ideal solutions for overcoming the aforementioned restrictions, unlocking additional renewable capacity. Among storage technologies, hybrid battery-hydrogen demonstrates beneficial characteristics thanks to the complementary features that battery and hydrogen exhibit regarding efficiency, self-discharge, cost, etc. This paper investigates the economic feasibility of a private investment in renewables and hybrid hydrogen-battery storage, realized on the interconnected island of Crete, Greece. Specifically, an optimization formulation is proposed to optimize the capacity of renewables and hybrid battery-hydrogen storage in order to maximize the profit of investment, while simultaneously reaching a minimum renewable penetration of 80%, in accordance with Greek decarbonization goals. The numerical results presented in this study demonstrate that hybrid hydrogen-battery storage can significantly reduce electricity production costs in Crete, potentially reaching as low as 64 EUR/MWh. From an investor's perspective, even with moderate compensation tariffs, the energy transition remains profitable due to Crete's abundant wind and solar resources. For instance, with a 40% subsidy and an 80 EUR/MWh compensation tariff, the net present value can reach EUR 400 million. Furthermore, the projected cost reductions for electrolyzers and fuel cells by 2030 are expected to enhance the profitability of hybrid renewable-battery-hydrogen projects. In summary, this research underscores the sustainable and economically favorable prospects of hybrid hydrogen-battery storage systems in facilitating Crete's energy transition, with promising implications for investors and the wider renewable energy sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this paper is to perform a comparative analysis between fuel consumption and CO2 emissions estimation and actual fuel consumption. A few years ago, detailed actual fuel consumption reports were collected from ship owners for determining the expenses on each trip but these reports were not publicly available. Nowadays ship owners report specific data including fuel consumption and CO2 emissions as per the requirements of EU MRV regulation. As a consequence, EMSA/MRV‐THETIS database is publicly available and provides annual reports of fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. The current study follows the bottom‐up methodology presented in detail in a recent publication where the fuel–energy consumption and air emissions (CO2, SOX, NOX, PM) of ships were calculated and presented for previous years. A detailed comparative analysis of results from calculated methodology and reported emissions data from EMSA/MRV‐THETIS database (MRV) was performed, which showed that there was a small difference in the results (about 6–12%), proving the reliability of the bottom‐up methodology for this geographic area and ships in study. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The traces of marks left by human bodies on surviving archaeological artefacts can be a rich and informative source for understanding everyday individuals and their practices in the past. Nevertheless, such traces have tended to be neglected or generalized in archaeology, in favour of elite artefacts and manufacturing statistics – or in pursuit of 'clean', forensically amenable evidence, e.g. dry fingerprints. Using two case studies from Bronze Age Crete, this paper calls for an attitudinal, as much as a methodological, shift in how we exploit the remnants of gestural preferences, limitations and mistakes which we have hitherto chosen to dismiss. I argue that, if we want to understand nameless individuals of past societies, we need to overcome our implicit aversion to the mundane and everyday and to find new ways of exploring the 'messy', inconvenient, but also abundant fleeting moments of bodies no longer extant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Diachronic research of social status differences in diet reveals a dynamic interplay of cultural, economic, and technological forces that have shaped the food choices of individuals across the past centuries. In this paper we focus on food and related practices at Palatial Knossos on Crete in the mid‐second millennium BC and review palaeodietary stable carbon and nitrogen isotope (δ13C and δ15N) data from two cemeteries to explore evidence for embodied social variation during the site's uncontested heyday in the Neo‐palatial Period (c.1700 to 1500 BC). We show that analysis by sex and tomb suggests no significant social differentiation in access to food resources. Instead, temporal trends reveal increased availability of animal protein during the Neo‐palatial period, aligning with Knossos' political and economic supremacy. We argue that the equitable living circumstances at Knossos during the Neo‐palatial period may have contributed to the absence of factional competition and social unrest, potentially explaining the site's continuity into Post‐palatial times despite widespread destructions elsewhere on Crete. Overall, the findings shed light on the complex interplay between diet, social structure, and historical context at Neo‐palatial Knossos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the persistent food shortages in the island of Crete under Venetian rule (1204-1669) through the prism of the monetary system of Venetian territories and in combination with the other economic policies of the Venetian empire. From the available sources and analysis, it seems that the policies of Venice which prioritised the food security of the metropolis, the financial support to the elites, and the elite-favouring monetary and taxation system were contradictory and self-defeating. In particular, the monetary structure of the colonial economy and the taxation system seem to have been forcing both Cretans and Venetian settlers to produce wine for export instead of grain despite the repeated food shortages. The parallel circulation of various high-value (white money) and low-value (black money) currencies in the same economy and the insistence of the Venetian administration to receive taxes in white money seems to have been consistently undermining the food security policy adopted by the same authorities. The paper contributes to the discussion of how parallel currencies can stabilise an economy or can create structural destabilisation propensities, depending on coeval economic structures that usually go unexamined when we examine monetary instruments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, researchers and policymakers have emphasised the importance of understanding the complex relationships between Water, Energy, Food and Ecosystems (WEFE). The primary reason for capturing these complexities is to understand how decisions made in the water, food and energy sectors can affect one another. Crucially, biodiversity and ecosystem services (E) play a mediating role in these relationships by making material and non-material contributions to all other sectors (W, E, F). The Nexus approach has been widely used for capturing these interdependencies and identifying opportunities for increasing efficiency, reducing trade-offs and building synergies for sustainable resource use across the WEFE nodes. One challenge in using this framework is the need to harmonise the technical and managerial dimensions of the WEFE interlinkages with the perceptions and priorities of local populations directly involved in the use and management of resources. This paper presents a methodological framework that seeks to integrate the perspectives of experts, practitioners and local stakeholders on the WEFE Nexus through the combined application of the Delphi and Focus Group methods. In this paper, the municipality of Apokoronas in Crete, Greece has served as the case in point. The combined framework allowed us to explore the Nexus understanding at the local level and was instrumental in the identification of initiatives for more integrated resource management. The triangulation of results captured the differences in priorities between practitioners and the local community at large, but also, more specifically, it pointed to discrepancies within groups and across WEFE sectors. The outcomes of this paper demonstrate that awareness and learning play a central role in Nexus actions to overcome conflicts and perceived inequalities, and to internalise solutions. The inclusion of the ecosystems node in the traditional WEF Nexus encouraged participants to contemplate the pivotal role of ecosystems in supporting the rest of the WEF sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is widely accepted as the state-of-the-art rational model for improving water governance, its evaluations under climate change at national and global scales indicate that progress made in water security and ecosystem preservation is slow. The paper identifies the relationship between Humans and Nature as the main reason for that and generates a novel social component to improve Water Resources Management (WRM) following three pillars: (1) A historical review over the past 20,000 years indicating that WRM depends on the interplay between Humans and Nature. This is in constant change over time, and depending on socio-economic and climate conditions, it oscillates between two opposites: conflict and cooperation. Three clusters have been identified, showing a different timeline pattern of dominance: (a) Nature dominating Humans (Naturalistic), (b) Nature–Humans in cooperation and competition (Dualistic), and (c) Humans dominating Nature (Anthropocentric). (2) Clarification of why a WRM model can improve water security through the Governance–Policy–Science Nexus. (3) Suggestion of a novel WRM model based on conflict identification (eristic component) and dialectical conflict resolution. Two types of conflicts have been distinguished: (a) Human vs. Human and (b) Human vs. Nature when the laws of nature are not respected. The dialectical tool operates by exchanging rational arguments to unify opposite objectives for harmonizing Humans with Natural laws. A case study of flood mitigation in Crete Island illustrates the Eristic–Dialectical methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mediterranean diet has probably been the most studied diet since the early 1950s. American physiologist Ancel Keys coined the term since it was based on the dietary habits of those populations bordering the Mediterranean basin, particularly the island of Crete and southern Italy. The motivation for the early studies lay in understanding why these populations had greater longevity and lower occurrence of chronic-degenerative diseases and forms of cancer when compared with the peoples of Northern Europe and North America. Traditionally, this dietary regimen was based on the seasonality of foods and the consumption of unrefined grains, legumes, fish, vegetables, fruits, little meat and use of olive oil as a condiment. The purpose of this paper is to understand, based on current scientific knowledge, how the different nutrients present in such a diet can play a preventive role in the onset of today's most frequent diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus on exploiting natural gas resources has been increased in the recent years since it was characterized as the transitional fuel to a net-zero era. Consequently, a reevaluation of the gas resources under a new perspective seems to be logical. Within this context, the gas-bearing Miocene sediments of the Messara basin in Crete (Greece) are discussed in this paper. The gas shows have been first reported during the 1990's, without being thoroughly evaluated. This paper presents the interpretation of eight legacy onshore seismic reflection lines, which led to the construction of the 3D subsurface structural model of the Neogene Messara basin. The seismic data reveals the basin depocenter which accommodates approximately 1500 m of the Miocene sediments. The relationship of the Miocene deposits with the existence of shallow gas is also examined and discussed. New organic geochemical results combined with the published geochemical data are used to discuss the gas generation potential of the Miocene sediments. The porosity and permeability measurements on surface samples are also presented to describe the reservoir characteristics. The integration of the data mentioned above suggests that the Miocene sediments of the Messara basin comprise intervals with adequate organic matter to generate the observed gasses and good reservoir sandstones to accumulate the generated gas. The gas might have been trapped by lateral and vertical facies changes which provide efficient stratigraphic trapping mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Summary: The paper presents a previously undocumented group of 22 lithics held at the Heraklion Archaeological Museum, which were recently identified as provenanced from the Mesolithic site of Smelroren in Norway. Their provenance is attested by a handwritten paper label that accompanied the assemblage, and further substantiated by three of these pieces presented in the 1936 publication of Smelroren. Archival testimonies allow one to tentatively formulate the hypothesis that these artefacts were possibly expatriated from Norway under unknown circumstances and transferred to Crete in 1941 by the Austrian archaeologist August Schörgendorfer, who was assigned with the safekeeping of cultural heritage in the occupied island. The main aim of the paper is to explore the historical background of this orphaned collection, as this is so far the only known case whereby an officer of the 'Art Protection' unit (Kunstschutz) of the Wehrmacht introduced foreign archaeological objects into a Greek archaeological instituition. Moreover, I examine the shifting agency of this Smelroren collection as a result of its mobility, after Schörgendorfer donated the lithics to Heraklion Museum. The discussion is framed by consideration of the changing meanings regarding another displaced collection of Cretan pottery sherds, which the archaeologist loaned to the University of Graz. It is suggested that the two collections be ultimately perceived as assemblages of affective memory objects, with the intent to engage public opinion on the interaction between archaeology and politics as well as to contribute to memory negotiation of World War II microhistories in the twenty‐first century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Eleventh Aegean Analytical Chemistry Days (AACD2018) was held in Chania, Crete, Greece during the period from 25 to 29 September 2018. The scientific framework consisted of 13 oral sessions and 2 poster sessions. Papers in fields such as atomic and molecular spectrometry, mass spectrometry, bioanalytical and clinical analysis, chromatography and separation techniques, electroanalytical methods and biosensors, speciation analysis, sample preparation, chemometrics, quality control/quality assurance and chemical metrology, environmental analysis, food analysis and pharmaceutical analysis were presented during this five-day conference. The social program included a visit to the Botanical Park of Chania and dinner with Cretan dishes and a post-conference one-day excursion to Knossos and Herakleio. During the closing ceremony, it was announced that the next AACD will be organized in Turkey by Professor Sezgin Bakirdere at Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This study deals with the results of the 2023 fieldwork at the extramural cemetery of the Late Bronze Age harbour city of Hala Sultan Tekke. One of the three excavated tombs in 2023 was the undisturbed Chamber Tomb XX, which is dated around 1300 BC. It contained a riveted bronze mirror, a rare type in Cyprus at that time, which is part of a mortuary context of four individuals out of a total of 17 individuals and 264 complete objects, many of them imported from a vast area, which includes the Mycenaean, Minoan, Egyptian and Levantine cultures. The current paper presents this mirror and associated contexts. As regards the provenance of the mirror, the Aegean is suggested as the area of manufacture, and more precisely Crete, suggesting potential evidence of direct contact between individuals from Crete and Hala Sultan Tekke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medicinal and aromatic plants are a consistent component of the biodiversity heritage in numerous countries worldwide. Origanum dictamnus L. (Lamiaceae family), also known as Dittany, an endemic plant of the Greek island of Crete, has been widely used as traditional medicine since antiquity, all over Europe. The aim of the present review is to provide a thorough and detailed account of Dittany in antiquity, the plant's physical characteristics and ecology, and its cultivation methods, as well as its chemical components, biological properties, and pharmacological studies. The information is presented and analyzed in a critical manner. A total of 86 research studies were systematically reviewed based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. The findings indicate that Dittany is one of the most important medicinal and aromatic plants, with many uses not only in pharmacology but also in gastronomy. While a large body of literature exists regarding the application of essential oils, the number of publications concerning the plant's cultivation is rather small. Therefore, the main focus of this review is on the cultivation methods and the significance of cultivating and employing Dittany in Greece and the wider Mediterranean region in the future. Further research on this plant species is warranted since it has significant medicinal, economic, and environmental value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley, 1898 (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), commonly known as the cotton mealybug or solenopsis mealybug, is a highly polyphagous species. This paper provides the first report of this species in Greece. It was detected in high numbers on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants cultivated in a greenhouse in the region of Mirtos, close to the city of Ierapetra in the Southeast part of the island of Crete. The species identification was carried out using morphological and molecular analyses. The fact that P. solenopsis can be transferred easily via trade of live plant material, in combination with its ability to affect many different hosts causing severe damage, constitutes an increasing threat to Greek cultivation and especially to horticultural and vegetable crops. Additional surveys should be conducted to investigate the species distribution in Greece. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to explore the contribution of "The New World of Work" to farming, a career often viewed as unattractive among youth, and, as highlighted by the "young farmer problem" in the literature. This paper draws upon research on the role of "new ways of working" in work engagement and farmer identity among young farmers. A mixed‐method approach is used based on data from two Mediterranean Islands, Crete and Cyprus. Based on the polymedia‐ new theory of digital media, the study focuses both on new media use and new media engagement for work‐related tasks. Our findings highlight that the "The New World of Work" is an important phenomenon for initiating positive change toward cohesive social‐self in a career (subjective perception of a farming career concerning others). However, we identified binary terms used by farmers when explaining conflicts between cohesive self‐concept (expression of a strong sense of self regarding their farming career) and social‐self in a career. The study concludes that the duality between career self‐concepts and social‐self still holds patterns even among young generation farmers, regardless of their integration level to new media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine and coastal areas are under significant pressures due to the intense concentration of population and activities that often drive in conflicts. Marine spatial plans need to be enacted and implemented, considering the particularities of marine areas, the existing and future activities and uses and their environmental impact and the land–sea interaction. The paper main question concerns the emerge of uses conflicts on marine and coastal areas, with significant uses accumulation. Crete Island is used as the case study. It studied the conflicts or synergies of marine uses as well as their spatial and quantitative representation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we develop a novel hybrid recommender system for the tourism domain, which combines (a) a Bayesian preferences elicitation component which operates by asking the user to rate generic images (corresponding to generic types of POIs) in order to build a user model and (b) a novel content-based (CB) recommendations component. The second component can in fact itself be considered a hybrid among two different CB algorithms, each exploiting one of two semantic similarity measures: a hierarchy-based and a non-hierarchy based one. The latter is the recently introduced Weighted Extended Jaccard Similarity (WEJS). We note that WEJS is employed for the first time within a recommender algorithm. We incorporate our algorithm within a real, already available at Google Play, tour-planning mobile application for short-term visitors of the popular touristic destination of Agios Nikolaos, Crete, Greece, and evaluate our approach via extensive simulations conducted on a real-world dataset constructed for the needs of the aforementioned mobile application. Our experiments verify that our algorithms result in effective personalized recommendations of touristic points of interest, while our final hybrid algorithm outperforms our exclusively content-based recommender algorithms in terms of recommendations accuracy. Specifically, when comparing the performance of several hybrid recommender system variants, we are able to come up with a "winner": the most preferable variant of our hybrid recommender algorithm is one using a 〈four elicitation slates, six shown images per slate〉 pair as input to its Bayesian elicitation component. This variant combines increased precision performance with a lightweight preferences elicitation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Knossos was an important city on Crete and within Mediterranean networks during the Hellenistic, Roman, and Late Antique periods. However, there were significant social, cultural, and economic shifts that appear to have caused changes to daily lifeways, including diet. This paper sets out to explore dietary changes across these time periods by looking at dental caries, with reference also to antemortem tooth loss, calculus, and stable isotope data. This study also looks to contextualize these results using archaeological and textual information relating to diet. It presents a thorough methodological approach to the investigation and interpretation of caries and discusses some of the shortcomings of using a fragmentary and commingled skeletal assemblage. The Roman diet was more cariogenic than in the Hellenistic or Late Antique periods. The caries‐zone analysis of the teeth suggests that there may have been a greater addition of sugars to the diet in the Roman period, though the increased caries could also be due to improved preparation techniques and technologies producing a more refined and sticky carbohydrate diet. Such changes could be due to either increased connectivity making certain foods more readily available, the cultural changes in food consumption or dental hygiene due to the influx of merchants, colonists, migrants, and other newcomers to the Colonia Iulia Nobilis Cnosus that was Roman Knossos, or increased prosperity at the site in this period. There was a significant difference detected between females and males for caries indicating differential dietary practices between the sexes, which was most notable for the Roman period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Being nocturnal, hiding in prickly bushes and shrubs during the day, Eupholidoptera species in Crete and its neighbouring islands are easily overlooked, and until now our knowledge about their distribution was based on some thirty sightings across 11 species. In this paper results are presented of a study of Eupholidoptera specimens collected between 1987 and 2020 by hand-catches and pitfall and fermenting traps on the Greek islands of Crete, Gavdos, Gavdopoula, and Andikithira. Diagnostic features of all known species are presented and illustrated with stacked images. An updated key to all species is provided. Eupholidoptera francisae Tilmans & Odé, sp. nov. from Andikithira and southwestern Crete and Eupholidoptera marietheresae Willemse & Kotitsa, sp. nov. from Mt. Dikti are described. Female E. cretica, E. gemellata, and E. mariannae are described, and the female of E. astyla is redescribed. Bioacoustics for E. francisae Tilmans & Odé, sp. nov., E. giuliae, and E. jacquelinae are presented for the first time. Eupholidoptera smyrnensis is reported for the first time from Crete. A substantial amount of new distribution data for Eupholidoptera species on Crete is presented. The current distribution pattern and first analyses of phylogeny based on molecular data of Eupholidoptera species on Crete are discussed in relation to paleogeographical events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the main applications of the gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite data is their combination with local gravity anomalies for geoid and gravity field modeling purposes. The aim of the present paper was the determination of an improved geoid model for the wider Hellenic area, using original GOCE SGG data filtered to retain only useful signals inside the measurement bandwidth (MBW) of the satellite. The filtered SGGs, originally at the satellite altitude, were projected to a mean orbit (MO) and then downward continued to the Earth's surface (ES) in order to be combined with local gravity anomalies. For the projection to an MO, grids of disturbing gravity gradients from a global geopotential model (GGM) were used, computed per 1 km from the maximum satellite altitude to that of the MO. The downward continuation process was then undertaken using an iterative Monte Carlo (MC) simulated annealing method with GGM gravity anomalies on the ES used as ground truth data. The final geoid model over the wider Hellenic area was estimated, employing the remove–compute–restore method and both Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and Least Squares Collocation (LSC). Gravity-only, GOCE-only and combined models using local gravity and GOCE data were determined and evaluation of the results was carried out against available GNSS/levelling data in the study area. From the results achieved, it was concluded that even when FFT is used, so that a combined grid of local gravity and GOCE data is used, improvements to the differences regarding GNSS/levelling data by 14.53% to 27.78% can be achieved. The geoid determination with LSC was focused on three different areas over Greece, with different characteristics in the topography and gravity variability. From these results, improvements from 14.73%, for the well-surveyed local data of Thessaly, to 32.88%, over the mountainous area of Pindos, and 57.10% for the island of Crete for 57.10% were found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work represents a contribution to the protection techniques of karst aquifers against groundwater pollution. The paper sets out the methodology being introduced for the protection of the karstic system that gives rise to five (5) major groups of springs and supplies fourteen (14) pumping wells near Agyia Chania (Crete, Greece). Starting from a geological and hydrogeological survey of the area, the work presents a vulnerability assessment of the karstic aquifer based on the application of three index-based methods (EPIK, PRESK and DRISTPI). The protection zones for the discharge area of the aquifer were delineated through an integrated geomorphological approach and groundwater flow modeling. At first, the risk of polluting substances migration from ground surface to groundwater was considered based on the spatial distribution of vulnerability. Following this, the vulnerability was evaluated in the saturated zone, where the attenuation mechanisms of contaminants were reducing due to the raised flow velocity. The groundwater flow and contaminant transport processes was considered using the MODFLOW code. Next, the data from the vulnerability mapping and the groundwater flow simulation were merged into an integrated assessment to delimit the protection zones for the water abstraction points. The vulnerability assessment outlines zones of high vulnerability in the SE part of the area, far away from the discharge zone of the aquifer and the water abstraction points. These zones are associated with an intensive infiltration process via carbonate formations. Protection Zone I was delineated 20 m around the water abstraction points, and it should be excluded from any anthropogenic activity. Protection Zone II coves part of the very high and high vulnerability zones defined by the DRISTPI method (located upwards of the water abstraction points), as well as an area downwards of springs and wells, where the flow path lines which demonstrate the subsurface travelling time of 50 days are projected to the ground surface. Protection Zone III extends outside Zone Ι and Zone ΙΙ, up to the limits of the hydrogeological or hydrological basin, whichever is larger. It includes the entire capture zone (i.e., the surface and underground catchment area) that feeds the water abstraction points. In this manner the protection zones include the entire contributing area to water abstraction points, not just the ground surface recharge zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the potential of GIS-based analyses of legacy survey data to inform discussions of settlement patterning, demographic change and the social organisation of agricultural production in the ancient Mediterranean. Legacy survey data represent an important body of evidence for understanding the development of past settlement systems, while their digitisation presents opportunities for novel quantitative and spatial analyses. By combining data from three contiguous intensive surveys from the Mirabello area of eastern Crete, this study investigates trajectories of demographic change and subsistence practice in the Early Iron Age (EIA) and Archaic periods (ca. 1200–550 BC), utilising GIS-based modelling of minimal agricultural catchments, and considering the relationships between communities over multiple geographic scales. This analysis highlights a transition away from clusters of small, demographically interdependent hamlets and villages in the earlier part of the EIA, toward the consolidation of nucleated population centres by the Archaic. The investigation of these developments contributes to our understanding of the scale, territorial control and management of agricultural hinterlands in the formative stages of the Greek poleis. The methods employed have wider relevance for the study of agricultural systems in the ancient Mediterranean, and highlight the important ongoing contributions of legacy survey data to theorising ancient subsistence economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Prassi Ecdotiche della Modernità Letteraria is the property of Prassi Ecdotiche della Modernita Letteraria and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Vitis vinifera ssp. vinifera (domesticated grapevine) includes thousands of cultivars, which are classified according to their main uses, as wines, fresh fruits or dried raisins and sultanas since ancient times. Evidence showed that Crete grapevine cultivars and winemaking date back to 2300 BC. In this study, fifty-one genotypes belonging to seven different traditional Vitis vinifera cultivars, presumed autochthonous to the island of Crete, were selected for their wine-producing potential and classified by 51 ampelographic descriptors. In addition, five genotypes belonging to two non-autochthonous cultivars were included as out-group controls. Subsequently, in order to characterize genetic diversity, establish genetic relationships within and between cultivars and solve accession-labeling problems, genotypes were fingerprinted employing Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR or microsatellite) markers. Four of the autochthonous cultivars namely 'Vidiano', 'Vilana', 'Plyto', and 'Moschato Spinas' are used in the local economy for blanc (white) wine production while the rest, namely 'Kotsifali', 'Liatiko' and 'Mantilari' for Noir (red) wines. The two cultivars employed as out-group were 'Moschato Samou' and 'Moschato Alexandrias': both white wine producers. Ampelography-based clustering grouped the majority of genotypes along cultivar-specific clusters. All three Moschato cultivars formed a distinct clade pointing to the non-autochthonous origin of 'Moschato Spinas'. A total of one hundred and thirteen (113) SSR alleles were amplified from thirteen (13) SSR loci, with an average number of alleles per locus equal to 10.23 revealing ample genetic polymorphism. The cumulative probability of identity was also quite high (3.389 × 10−16). The overall observed heterozygosity was 0.837 while for twenty-nine of the examined genotypes, at least one private SSR allele was detected. The majority of genotypes were grouped in cultivar-specific clusters. The results of this paper pave the way for the certification and registration of clones of some of the most important wine-producing cultivars in Crete. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on collaborative methods and open source tools aimed to analyze and query 3D photogrammetric models of ancient architectures. The processing of virtual models led to the constitution of a training dataset of around 1300 wall facing stones from four archaeological sites in Crete. Through a purposely-conceived add-on of the open source software Blender, some algorithms expressed in Python are able to extract archaeologically significant features and to perform processes of Machine Learning and data mining. The resulting data are imported into a dedicated DB managed through a web application based on the open source framework Django. This workflow addresses some peculiar challenges of the application of Artificial Intelligence to archaeological heritage: the lack of training dataset, particularly related to architecture; the lack of best practices for geometry processing and analysis of 3D data; the use of poorly predictive data in semi-automatic processes; the sharing of data into the scientific community; the importance of the open source technology and open data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue of Materials Science and Engineering Technology (Materialwissenschaft und Werkstofftechnik) contains selected papers presented at the 16th International Conference on Advanced Computational Engineering and Experimenting (ACE‐X 2023) held at the Aquila Atlantis Hotel in Crete during the period 3rd–7th July, 2023. The included papers are related to advanced structured materials, their design and analysis, and advanced manufacturing and processing techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a preliminary study focused on the astronomical manuscript Marcianus latinus VIII.31 (2614) and its socio‐historical context of use and production, the Venetian colony of Crete in the 15th century. It is a relevant source for the study of scientific interactions in colonial, multilinguistic, and interreligious contexts in the Eastern Mediterranean for at least two reasons: (a) it contains an unpublished translation into Latin of a popular Byzantine handbook on how to use a set of astronomical tables stemming from Islamic sources, namely the so‐called Paradosis of the Persian Tables, a work extensively copied and annotated by very significant Byzantine and Jewish scholars active in Constantinople; and (b) it provides evidence of a Byzantine product being the object of exchange in the interactions between Christians and Jews in the Cretan territory under Venetian rule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preparations for the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church, which was held in Crete in 2016, represent a modern expression of the institution of synodality. The authors made a comparative review of canonical and ecumenical perspectives of this institution with the aim of identifying similarities and differences in the conciliar consciousness of the Church. The first part of the paper points out the exceptional flexibility of this institution, which easily adapts to different church needs and social circumstances, as well as the fact that the conciliarity is the basic institution that forms the church organization from the parish to the universal level. The second part of the paper presents the preconciliar conferences and the issues they faced. The general conclusion of the paper is that the institution of synodality in the Orthodox Church has surpassed its canonical significance, which will always be unquestionable, and that it has gained its ecumenical perspective, thus becoming a factor of modern inter-church and inter-religious relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The idea of the reconquest of former Roman lands is only part of the complex of ideas related to the Byzantine understanding of war, and can hardly be dealt with separately from concepts such as oecumene, religion or legitimacy. Present paper will try to explore an aspect still neglected in the studies produced thus far, such as the popular backing or understanding of the idea of reconquest in Byzantium. I will address here some examples under two different headings, both referring to events in the 1 0th century in Byzantium. The first will involve two short speeches dealing with the Byzantine reconquest of Crete, and the second will deal with the typology of the heroes who appear in the sources as inspiring models for Byzantine frontier warriors in their fight against Islam. A detailed philological analysis of the texts will allow us to see that arguments legitimating the war were constantly reused and rewritten in the historical sources and that, accordiIlgly, they are to be approached with some caution, tacking into account the literary debts. On the other hand, a series of topical references to the old mythical and historical heroes found in some 108-century sources suggest that the idea of reconquest was perhaps more prevalent among common soldiers than is usually believed and may have even buoyed the Byzantines' campaigns at the eastern border. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black kites of the nominal subspecies Milvus migrans migrans breed in Europe and winter regularly in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. As a new phenomenon, black kites with morphological characteristics of the subspecies Milvus migrans lineatus are observed in Europe. Based on observations of black kites in winter 2020/2021 summarized in this paper, based on other recent reports about wintering black kites in Europe and based on juvenile black kite tagged on Crete and tracked for two years, we conclude that hundreds to thousands of black kites are now regularly wintering in south of Europe, and in smaller numbers in other parts of Europe as well as in northern Africa. The growing number of wintering black kites in Europe is apparently caused by members of the population from a hybrid zone between M. m. migrans and M. m. lineatus breeding east of the Urals, i.e. from the area of the European part of Russia. This is consistent with the hypothesis of the spreading of M. m. lineatus and a subsequent hybridization zone between M. m. migrans and M. m. lineatus in a westerly direction from Siberia across continental Europe. Moreover, two black kites found dead on Crete were attributed to M. m. lineatus and M. m. migrans by cytochrome B gene sequence analyses. The juvenile black kite with lineatus features tagged on Crete and telemetrically tracked during the next two years moved to the south-western part of Russia during the next two summers, but did not breed. It spent the following two winters at the same landfill in south-western Turkey. It seems that an adaptation to food sources provided by municipal waste landfills is important for black kites wintering in Europe, the Middle East and Morocco. Highlights • Hundreds to thousands of black kites are now regularly wintering in Europe. • The growing number of wintering black kites is caused by birds from a hybrid zone between Milvus migrans migrans and M. m. lineatus in eastern Europe. • Municipal waste landfills are important as food sources for black kites wintering in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scope of the paper is to focus on the main technical discrepancies, that is, engine load factor (LF), specific fuel oil consumption (SFOC), emissions factors (EF), included in the existing methodological approaches for calculating ships' on-board emissions and propose a framework that will allow various stakeholders to conduct accurate air emissions calculations based on publically available operational data. A bottom-up methodology has been employed for the calculation of fuel-energy consumption and air emissions (CO2, SOx, NOx, PM10) in two major ports (Souda and Heraklion) of Crete island in Greece for passenger ferries and cruise ships for the years 2018 and 2019 and for both main and auxiliary engines of all vessels. Due to the lack of publically available technical data, the proposed methodology is based on the estimation of SFOC values through a regression analysis that leads to accurate and reliable results. The basic scenario is based on a detailed estimation of SFOC via a regression analysis applied on engine's technical data, while the alternative approaches employ SFOC estimated through the application of specific adjustment factors and main engine power based on ship's gross tonnage. The basic scenario results are the most accurate data while in most other cases air emissions are underestimated observing significant differences between the different methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review covers recent archaeological work on Early Iron Age to Classical Crete, focusing on research conducted and published in the 2010s. Proceeding from the west to the east part of the island, and encompassing material ranging from the 12th to the mid-fourth century BC, this study finds that, overall, the field is flourishing, despite the challenges created by the international financial crisis and the constraints posed by the global pandemic. In the last decade, the major archaeological projects which focus on Crete for the period under examination continued with their fieldwork and finds research, while new projects were also established. Additionally, as many as eight archaeological museums were opened, reopened, or are about to open. Nevertheless, final publication of large bodies of Cretan material from the period in question remain scarce, a condition which is more severe on the western half of the island. Notwithstanding its floruit, research on Early Iron Age to Classical Crete is often treated as relatively marginal, and – arguably – rather inconsequential to the grand narratives of Greek history, and art and archaeology. This paper traces the roots of this problem and shows that current work on the archaeology of Early Iron Age to Classical Crete has full potential for revolutionizing the largely Athenocentric paradigm which still pervades the study of ancient Greece. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A deserted Cretan village provided the grounds to look beyond the ruins and study the abandonment and post-abandonment formation processes that transform settlements into archaeological sites. The long abandonment period, as well as the continuous human presence and intervention in the post-abandonment period of individual buildings and larger parts ofthe site, resulted in an evidence-rich environment, idealfor tracing the formation processes in the different stages of ruination. By drawing on a case study in the eastern Mediterranean basin, where only afew other observations have been undertaken, this paper highlights the historic and cultural distinctiveness offormation processes, emphasising the difficulty ofgeneralising about post-abandonment factors associated with sites. The paper attempts to give an account of the observed structures and artefact distributions, and draw conclusions regarding the anthropogenic impact that led to an advanced state ofdecay only 40 years after the abandonment of the settlement. In this context, it addresses the complexity in attributing cultural causes to their effects by linking cultural behaviour to the archaeological record and incoiporating informants' responses about the invisible abandonment andpost-abandonment stages. The paper concludes by underlining the spatiotemporal peculiarities and cultural circumstances of abandoned settlements and the importance of avoiding universal law-like generalisations when it comes to the interaction between humans and the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]